bangalore - tumkur - chitradurga - apoorva resort = 274km, 4.

5 hrs = breakfast 8AM

apoorva resort - india paratha company = 155 km = 2.5hrs = alternate breakfast

10AM

apporva resort - kittur - 200km - 3.25hrs = 11:30 AM

belgaum - chorla ghat = 60km - 1.5hrs

chorla ghat - lotus = 60km - 2hrs

Morjim - Bicholim - Sakhali (Sanquelim)- Chorla Ghat - Khanapur - Bidi - Kittur -

Bangalore.

Morjim to Poriem : The road conditions are good for the most part except a few of
the internal roads and gets progressively better as you go away from the coast. Did
this in 1.5 hours
Poriem to Satari : Beautiful road and runs along the Mahadeyi river for some part,
was very cool because of the trees and scenic too. Roads are narrow so watch out
and honk at curves. There is a police outpost and excise checkpoint as well. Did
this in 20 minutes

Satari to Kanakumbi : This has got to be good news, but there has been a fair bit
of patchwork done on this stretch and many of the big craters have been leveled,
there are 1 or 2 patches which are bad but the worse of them is better than the
best of the Anmod route bad patches. There was still patch work going on when I
travelled so hoping for more improvement. So the 40 or so through the Chorla ghat
road is average compared to its glory of the past but is a much better drive for
your vehicle.
Bikers watch out for the loose gravel at the WIP sites, Did this in 1 hour

Kanakumbi to Jamboti : This route was awesome barring one patch close to Jamboti
village, smooth sweeping curves, great roads and not too much traffic made it bliss
to drive on, Did this in 30 minutes

Jamboti to Bidi : Though this is a state highway the roads are in poor condition,
the road is cracked pretty much the entire way, so it would be a suspension test
and bumpy ride (not advisable for a family with young or old) and the road is
narrow and not at all busy so watch out for the village speed demon on a bike, also
what added to the woes was the tractors carrying sugarcane which were difficult to
overtake on a narrow road. Did this in 2 hours

Bidi to Kittur : This Road was pretty good and was wide too, not much traffic and
passed through fields of sugarcane and paddy, scenic drive if you like open fields
and flat land. easy connection to the main highway (26 km from Dharwad). Did this
in 30 minutes

Kittur to Haveri : This road is the main Mumbai - Bangalore/Chennai highway and so
way good for the most part, few diversions for road construction. Did this in 1.5
hours

Haveri to Chitradurga : This road was good but lots of diversions (well marked) due
to construction and road work. Also some parts of the road have started to break
and the first layer of Tarmac has come off so watch out for the small dips. Did
this in 2.5 hours
Chitradurga to Bangalore : This was the cake topper after a long gruelling drive,
butter smooth roads which were quite empty with just a few neatly interspaced
trucks which made for like driving in a 90's video game. Did this in 3.5 hours

Ramya Residency dharwad

Kamath in Ranebennuru
Indian Paratha Company, Hubli
Kamat Upachar, Sira
nfantria, Calangute
Fat Fish, Calangute
Starlight, Calangute
De Baga Deck,Baga
Britto's,Baga
Curley's, Anjuna
Mango Tree, Vagator
Thalassa, Vagator
Antares, Vagator
Martin's Corner, Salcette
Viva Panjim, Panjim
Ritz Classic, Panjim
Kentuckee, Colva
BOMRAS, ANJUNA
GUNPOWDER, ASSAGAO
BABA AU RHUM
JAMUN, ASSAGAO
SUBLIME, ASSAGAO
SEA, ASSAGAO

Left at 0400. Checked into my destination at 1500 hrs. This is including a 30 min
breakfast stop at Davangere (Apoorva resorts-decent food n rest rooms).

Road surface: After Chitradurga, there is the lane expansion work underway. You
will be forced to get onto the surface road and back. Road humps at most places
when you need to detour. Service roads are ok ok - not bad. Got to watch for an odd
deep pothole. Hubli-Dharwad stretch is good. I took a route after Dharwad to
Khanapur to Chorla Ghat. The guys at the Hubli-Dharwad toll can guide you. The turn
off is about 23 km post the exit of the Hubli-Dharwad toll road. My route was of
internal roads - decent surface. Would recommend day travel on this route. This
route saves one the hassle and time of going through Belgaum.

Chorla Ghat: Karnataka section is pretty decent, but watch the edges as the drains
look deep. Goa section is a bit damaged due to rains. Drive with care. If you in a
sedan, it could take a bit more time.

Note:
Chitradurga to Hubli section: While work is underway, on the completed portions,
the lane marking was not done yet. So if you are travelling when it's dark, do
anticipate the road and watch for the road humps as and when you need to get onto
service roads.

Much to what I read, it was decent. Travelled at a decent pace (did not cross 120)
and reached destination in a good time.

Hope this helps. Safe journey folks.

(1) Dharwad-bypass - Alnawar - Ramnagar - Tinai Ghat fork - Anmod Checkpost(via
Akheti) - Mollem - Ponda, with 16km Tinai Ghat to Anmod Checkpost detour via
Varlewadi & Akheti to bypass unconstructed stretch of SH748, if rest of the road in
Dharwad-bypass to mollem route is okay to opt.

(2) Dharwad -> Kittur -> Nandgad -> Khanapur -> Bhimgad WLS -> Anmod -> Mollem ->
Ponda, to bypass entire of the straight Dharwad-bypass - Alnawar - Ramnagar - Anmod
Checkpost stretch and go parallel to (1) and converge at Anmod checkpost.

Option 2 have almost entirely village/interiors roads, forest roads and narrow
roads, while option 1 is the classic 'Goa road' which is fairly wide and relatively
'normal' road, if road conditions are okay after Ramnagar(i am assuming due to
being toll road, upto Ramnagar road would be good). So, can Manish or somebody else
who travelled/travel this route comment that from Ramnagar to Tinai ghat detour
fork, are roads unconstructed/bad too that one should preferably bypass entire
dharwad - Ram nagar - Tinai ghat fork - Anmod checkpost(via Akheti) stretch, going
via longer & uncommon route (2) which is mostly interior roads?

Hi, I travelled on route option 1 in your post a week or so ago. It's a perfectly
fine road to take with bad stretches limited to patches near railway crossings and
some patches in the Tinai ghat diversion. The biggest pothole is right before Anmod
checkpost at the end of the Tinai ghat diversion but I could cross without scraping
in a sedan.

those horrible stretches are just before the Anmod checkpost. Taking the Tinai ghat
diversion avoids them. I travelled this route on 11th Oct and the diversion saved
me.
The diversion is a very narrow road and is easy to miss or think that google is
directing to the wrong route. But if you miss the diversion, then you need an army
tank to traverse that bad stretch.

==============

Bangalore - Tumkur - Chitradurga - Bankapura Toll plaza - Mundgod - Yellapur -

Ankola - Karwar - South Goa ( Benaulim)

Onward - 24th Oct

An early 4 AM start helped me beating traffic and the drive till Tumkur was a
breeze with not much pile up in Toll booths. I was expecting worse considering the
long weekend but leaving early helped.

Stopped at BP Sira for a 10 min refueling break and was off on the highway again.
Reached Apporva resorts Davangere around 8 AM for breakfast. Took a 30 min break
here. The washrooms are clean and the breakfast is decent. Stick to standard South
Indian fare for breakfast and it is quite decent.
I was still not sure of the route that I wanted to take. While I was decided on
taking the Dharwad/Anmod route the previous night, I decided to give a try for
Bankapur Mundgod again. Last time I had felt desolate on this route, but decided to
give it a try again considering sunny weather and it was good daylight at that
time. If it were raining, I would have stuck to the Anmod route.
Left Apoorva resorts after breakfast around 8:35 AM and was pleasantly surprised to
see the triple lane work happening on most flyovers and the stretch till Banakapur
was quite a breeze. Took left after the Bankapura toll gate and hit the Mundgod
road. I wanted to finish this stretch till Yellapur at one go without stopping.
The route from Bankapura to Yellapur via Mundgod is still good but is a single
lane. The traffic is less and you can see locals on motorbikes mostly. The
Shidalgundi bridgework is done and the bridge is open. The diversion is no more
there. There are some patches that have gravel and are muddy. But otherwise, this
route is good mostly till Yellapur. It is still desolate in parts, so if you are
with family do it at a stretch. But overall, it is good for now.
After Yellapur, the road till Ankola is wider with considerable truck traffic, but
still, you can cover this 60 odd KM stretch quickly. The roads in Arbail ghat are
bad and there are big potholes especially at curves. You have to drive carefully if
you are in a hatchback. After the ghat, the road is good mostly till Ankola. The
drivers on this stretch are in race mode and I could see much smaller cars like
Celerio, Alto, i10, etc driving 120K+ speeds. There are some speed breakers that
are unmarked so drive carefully and have control of your vehicle. I would suggest
to not cross 100 on this stretch.
We stopped just before the Ankola right turn for a quick roadside tea break and the
rest of the journey till Karwar was quite uneventful. The 4 laning work is in
progress and there is a toll booth that has come up. After Karwar, the roads are
fantastic till the Goa border with sparse traffic. Upon entering Goa, there is a 4
lane road in the Canacona area which is a breeze. Post this the Karmali Ghat road
till Chinchinim is good and we took left from there to hit Benaulim via Orlim and
Varca. We reached our destination at around 2:40 PM. Overall, it was about 9:45/10
hours of driving.

Return – Nov 1
We started late around 8 AM. Wanted to start early to beat the Tumkur –
Neelamangala traffic but couldn’t do it. As we started late, I dropped the idea of
trying out the Tadas – Kalghatgi route to save the 20 mins. Had breakfast at Udupi
Café in Karwar and early lunch at Basaveshwar Khanavi at Mundgod. This place turned
out to be a little gem and served fresh North Karnataka meals. Took a long break at
Purohit Hotel Sira in the evening around 5 PM and was back home at 9 PM (JP Nagar)
around in the evening. The traffic from Tumkur was horrible and I don’t know what
happens to everyone on this stretch. It is like entering another planet. I would
seriously advise avoiding reaching Tumkur in the evenings on the last day of the
long weekend. People in their newly acquired SUV’s drive crazily and just have no
road sense. Plan your return so that you reach Tumkur early before 2-3 PM or reach
the next day.

Some observations
1. The diversions between Chitradurga and Banakapura are more while returning
towards Bangalore. The work onward is mostly completed. The onward stretch can be
covered quickly compared to the return journey.
2. Banakapura Mundgod route is just fine for now. It is a single lane and I don’t
think it will be a good route in Monsoons. I am still not convinced about safety
though, but do it at one stretch without stopping.
3. I saw the restaurants on the way were full and people had no sense about social
distancing, wearing masks, etc. There is absolutely no sign on COVID on the
highways.
4. Locals in Goa were wearing masks all the time.
5. Avoid long weekends – this is the Golden rule for having stress free drive. If
you have to do it, then start early from Bangalore at about 4 AM and reach earlier
before 2-3 PM or after midnight
6. Diversions on highway post-Chitradurga are still a pain and be careful if you
are in a hatchback
7. The driving sense on highways is mostly gone for a toss and you can’t afford to
lose even a bit of concentration. Overtaking from left has become a norm.
8. Arbail ghat is in bad condition – so account that if you are taking the Yellapur
Ankola route if you are in a hatchback with low GC.